In general, a photographic material is processed, after it was exposed imagewise, in the processing steps such as a color developing, bleaching, fixing, stabilizing, bleaching-fixing, and washing steps. In the washing step which follows after the step carried out with a processing solution having a fixing capability, a compound such as a thiosulfate forming a water-soluble complex salt upon reacting with a silver halide and other water-soluble silver complex salts and, in addition, such a preserving agent as a sulfite, metabisulfite and the like are brought together with a photographic material into the washing step. In the case of a small quantity of washing water, it is well-known that an image preservability will be affected thereby. The real situation of solving such weak points as mentioned above is that the above-mentioned salts are washed off from a photographic material by making use of a great quantity of running water in a washing step after processing the photographic material with a processing solution having a fixing capability. In recent years, however, for the economical reasons such as the shortage of water resources, rises in water rates, heat and light expenses, and the like, and for the reasons of environmental pollution, a reduction in washing water quantity and a countermeasure against pollution have been desired to take into processing steps.
Heretofore, these countermeasures including, for example, such a method of making water counter-flow by arranging washing tanks to be multistage system as described in West German Pat. No. 2,920,222; S. R. Goldwasser, `Water Flow Rate in Immersion--Washing of Motion Picture Film`, SMPTE, Vol. 64, pp. 248-253, May 1955; and the like.
There is a well-known processing method in which a prewashing step is provided immediately after a fixing bath so as to reduce pollution components coming into a washing step together with a photographic material and to reduce the washing water quantity.
The above-mentioned technique are not used in such a processing method in which washing water is not used at all. In recent years therefore, the expenses for washing operation have been increased due to the exhaustion of water resources and the increase in crude oil cost. These problems of the increase in washing expenses and the like have been becoming more serious.
On the other hand, there are the other processing methods in which a stabilizing process is carried out immediately after completing photographic processes without carrying out any washing step. For example, there is a well-known silver stabilization process such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,335,004 and others, in which a thiocyanate is used. In this process, however, there are the defects that a formed image dye is apt to become a leuco dye because the stabilizing bath contains a number of sulfites, and that a color photographic image is therefore deteriorated by the serious influences thereof.
As for the methods of omitting a washing step or extremely reducing a quantity of washing water, there are well-known methods such as a multistage counter-current type stabilization process described in for example, Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 8543/1982, and a processing technique using a stabilizing liquid containing a bismuth complex salt as described in Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 134636/1983. Any of these is a technique for reducing the replenishing quantity of the stabilizing liquid and improving environmental pollutions though, it was found that such techniques were by no means satifactory in the long-time preservability of a photographic image and in particular that cyan dyes were easily deteriorated under the conditions of a high temperature and humidity. In addition, it was also found that the above-mentioned troubles were caused by a varied replenishing quantity of stabilizing liquid or by a processing liquid concentrated by a seasonal variation or a change in quantity of material processed.